Assignment-2

Please read the case "New York's Subway System Is Crumbling" on Page number 277, Chapter 7 - "Individual & Group Decision Making"available in your textbook/e-textbook "Management: A Practical Approach" 9^th edition by Kinicki, A., & Williams, B., and answer the following questions: (Case is attached).

Assignment Question(s):

1.What is the underlying problem in this case from NYCTA President Andy Byford's perspective?

2.What barriers to decision making were prevalent before Byford's arrival? Explain.

3.Which Nonrational decision making model does Byford employ? How?

| Management in Action New York's Subway System Is Crumbling With 4'72 stations, the New York City subway system is the largest in the world, with a long and rich history. The system was rst established in 1904 in the borough of Manhattan. before expanding to Brooklyn. Queens, and the Bronx by 1915. The Metropolitan Transporta- tion Authority (MTA) oversees its 2? subway lines.\"J Subway ridership had grown to 5.7 million daily pas- sengers in 201?, double the number two decades earlier. The level of service and quality, however, has not kept up. Tunnels and track routes are crumbling. Signal problems and equipment failures have doubled between 2007 and 201?, and the system has the worst on-time performance of any major rapid transit system in the world. These problems are not due to acts of nature like a flood. Rather, decades of poor decision making seems to be a key cause. according to The New York Times.m Let's take a closer look at what's been plagu- ing the Empire State's transit system. THE BIG APPLE'S TRANSIT PROBLEM The derelict state of the New York City subway system is partly due to poor decision making by the MTA and other state-level government officials. Some decisions were made for political reasons or based on decision- making biases, and sometimes ofcials simply refused to make a decision at all. This type of governmental dysfunction is not out of the ordinary, but it is surpris- ing given the number of people who rely on the subway daily to get around. Politics was the rst problem with the city's decision making. The MTA decided in 2008 to renovate stations by installing glass domes and mirrors. These cosmetic improvements were to be made in the home district of New York's then Assembly speaker. The Times reported that the Assembly speaker demanded the project be 276 PM\" 3 Planning completed; otherwise. MTA's budget would be vetoed. The project cost $1.4 billion (more than the annual budget of the entire Chicago rapid transit system)."'5 Not a penny was spent on signals or tracks, which are vital to keep the trains running safely and on time. The executive director of TransitCenter told amNewYor-k that there \"has been sort of the lack of accountability in Albany and the continual depletion of resources from the MTA and misprioritization on cosmetics instead of the nuts and bolts of actually running the system reliably?\" The MTA tried to minimize future political decision making by assembling an independent Transportation Reinvention Commission in 2014 to study the city's deteriorating system. The Commission was made up of successful transportation leaders from all over the world. It provided seven strategies to rehabilitate the subway system, including capacity expansion, a dedi- cated transportation fund, and congestion pricing.\" You might imagine that the Commission's ndings then provided a starting point for the MTA's future decisions. This was not the case. For example, the Commission diagnosed capacity expansion, not cos- metic remodeling, as a major problem for the subway system. Capacity expansion would allow the subway to continue to handle increased ridership in a safe, sus- tainable way. '33 instead of investing in capacity expan- sion, however, as NBC New York reported, the agency decided years after the Commission's report to again invest in cosmetically remodeling dozens of stations, this time to the tune of $1 billion. 1\" The MTA's choice to make cosmetic repairs wasn't the only example of poor decision making. State lead- ership contributed to the problem as well. For exam- ple. the MTA owed Albany for expenses related to the subway system that the state had incurred. The agency could have been allowed to keep the money and invest in its crumbling infrastructure, but state leaders upon his arrival in Canada, Byford had been "looking instead ordered the MTA to bail out state-run ski for, in the short term, quick wins." Byford understood resorts. The New York Daily News reported that in that a reputation for indecisiveness doesn't bode well 2013 around $5 million was sent to the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the for a new leader. "That's the basic thing any new manager does: they come in and want to be seen as state ski resorts. doing something . . . " said the activist. ' The ques- Lawmakers and transportation advocates ques- tion is whether Byford can duplicate Toronto's suc- tioned the decision to bail out ski resorts when the sub cess with the New York City's subway system, which way system urgently needed attention. A state senator is four times bigger than Toronto's. 196 told the Daily News, "The MTA needs more money, not Byford doesn't just make decisions for the sake of less. It's having enough trouble funding its own needs. expediency in pursuit of quick wins. He first wants to I don't see why we'd be sending MTA resources to study the New York subway system by riding it to ski slopes." The MTA does not oversee state-run ski work every day. He believes this experience will garner resorts, but it sent the money anyway. The agency's useful feedback from commuters and MTA employ- board hired a law firm to investigate the decision. It ees. Byford cultivated this hands-on style in Toronto, was found to be legal, but the board still labeled it as where he once spent hours navigating the subway in a inappropriate. 191 wheelchair with a member of the system's accessibil IT'S IN THE DATA! ity forum. This experience provided him useful Why all these poor decisions? One reason is that lead- insights about the challenges faced by those who have ers may not have been utilizing data to support their a mobility impairment. Gathering first-hand informa- actions. For example, the MTA's sloppy data collec tion meant he could make more informed decisions to their benefit. 197 tion prevented it from adopting congestion pricing, a strategy of increasing fares during times of peak rider- The new NYCTA chief's style seems to be making ship (similar to Uber's "surge pricing"). Supporters of an impact at the MTA as well. His influence stems congestion pricing told CBS News that this scheme from serving on the 2014 MTA Transportation Reinvention Commission. In that role, Byford was able would address gridlock and raise money for mass tran- sit. Skeptics of congestion pricing included Bill de to help convince the agency to halt the $1 billion mod- Blasio, New York City's mayor. De Blasio believed ernization project it had slated for summer 2018 because it did not address urgent needs. Not everyone congestion pricing in general was a burden on middle class and low-income commuters. These conflicting is in agreement with halting the project, though, include views, coupled with a lack of evidence to support an ing the MTA chairman. He argues that fresh paint, bet- ideal solution, may have led to indecision on fare ter lighting, and working MetroCard machines are more about safety, not luxury. 198 price increases. All these issues have made the subway situation so Byford doesn't seem to be a fan of cosmetic make- bad that New York's governor declared a "state of overs. He told The Wall Street Journal that, "We've got emergency" for the system in 2017.193 Riders also to get the basics right, day in, day out." These basics made declarations of their own. A group of them ral- include service reliability. Byford plans to shake up the lied at the State Capitol in Albany in 2018. The protes- agency's workforce, processes, and infrastructure in a tors, representing subway riders, told amNew York they new plan to be released in late 2018. The plan will not were "desperate for change" and that state legislators be centered solely on his views though. Byford wants to could not leave Albany without approving new fund- engage city board members in the process as well. This ing for the system. "* New Yorkers' patience had way, even if they don't agree with his plans in the end, they won't feel shut out of the process. 199 reached its end. Byford must effectively balance time and discussion A NEW DECISION MAKER if he wants to get past the indecisiveness of his prede- ENTERS THE PICTURE cessors. The Journal reports that it could take up to 40 years to modernize the subway's signal system. Byford Andy Byford became head of the New York City wants to speed the process up, but not at any cost. For Transit Authority (NYCTA) in January 2018. The example, an MTA spokesman mentioned in 2018 that NYCTA is the division of the MTA that oversees the wireless technology might speed up modernization New York City subway and bus systems. Byford came efforts. Byford was cautious though. "I would need to from the Toronto transit system, where he executed a be convinced that an alternative is viable because we five-year modernization plan. The plan significantly he says. 200 don't have the time to waste going down a blind alley." improved the subway system, and Toronto earned "outstanding public transit system of the year" in 2017. A Toronto transit activist told the Guardian that Will Byford's decision-making style put the subway system back on track? Individual and Group Decision Making CHAPTER 7 277